Special Issues

Hear It: Clip ’n’ Save

April 9, 2008, 12:00 am

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April is the rockinest month.

TUESDAY, APRIL 8Indie rock new and old made April 8 a special musical day. Throw on a silk-screened T-shirt and a pair of chucks for a trip to the record shop to pick up The Breeders' Mountain Battles, an album of upbeat indie pop. Or, get decked out in black for the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' album, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! Cave's gone a bit more upbeat than on his past work for this one. But it's Nick Cave. And The Bad Seeds. There just ain't no way to go wrong. For those who are too cool for the classics, indie kids Tapes 'N Tapes hit the streets with Walk It Off, a solid follow-up to its much-acclaimed The Loon.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15Anton Newcombe, founder and singer of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, is infamous for being totally out of control. While we wouldn't want Newcombe crashing on our couch, Massacre's new album, My Bloody Underground, can come over and hang out anytime. Its lo-fi, neo-psychedelic rock helps get the party started, while the mellow, '80s-inspired ambient pop of M83's Saturdays=Youth chills things out.

TUESDAY, APRIL 22Nooo! Blind Melon lives. Well, maybe if it leaves the "Bee Girl" (and the coke that killed original singer Shannon Hoon) back in the mid-'90s, everything will be OK. A short video on the band's Web site (blindmelon.com) reveals that new singer Travis Warren sounds a lot like Hoon. In happier news, hip-hop's Atmosphere drops When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, Tokyo Police Club rocks the shit out of Elephant Shell and Elvis Costello's Momofuku comes out on vinyl and in downloadable forms (CD collectors have to wait until May 6).

TUESDAY, APRIL 29And, in best-for-last news, Portishead puts out its first album in 900 years (OK, it's only been a decade), Third. Whee! The Roots throw down with guests Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Saigon, Dice Raw and Wale on Rising Down this week too. The record industry may be having a tough time, but April=ear candy galore!